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SERVING 88 SOUTH - GEORGIA COUNTIES
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 51 No. 8
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1970
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$5 Per Year
POLLUTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT is the object of attention almost everywhere these days.
President Nixon has sent a program to the Congress to clean up the atmosphere. Here Fort Collins,
Colo., students demonstrate against air pollution. (NC Photo)
DEJiATE WORLDWIM
Nat’l Pastoral Council:
How Soon—What Form?
FOR SAVANNAH DIOCESE
Vatican Grants Change In
Sunday, Holy Day Duties
The Diocese of Savannah has received permission from the Holy See to grant
parishes and church institutions the privilege, upon their request, for pastoral
reasons, of celebrating Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation Masses on the preceding
evening, according to an announcement by the Very Rev. Kevin Boland, Chancellor.
Parishes or institutions wishing to avail themselves of the permission are requested
to write to Bishop Gerard L. Frey, stating the pastoral reasons for seeking it, Father
Boland said. ,
HIS HONOR, THE MAYOR. Cub Scout Mark Horner was
sworn in as mayor-for-the-day of Warner Robins at ceremonies
February 13th. Mark, A “Webelos” Scout and a Fifth-grade
student at Sacred Heart School, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. W. G.
Horner of Warner Robins. Mr. Horner is Cub Master for Pack
122 of which young Mark is a member. Here, he is shown
flanked by his teacher, Sister Kevin (1.) and Sister Ignatius,
Principal of Sacred Heart School. The “swearing in” ceremonies
were part of Warner Robins’ observance of Scout Week. Cub
Pack 122 is sponsored by Warner Robins Knights of Columbus.
COLUMBUS AREA
City-Wide Rites
Of Confirmation
WASHINGTON (NC)-
The first nationwide
conference on diocesan
pastoral councils will pay
close attention next month to
the question of how soon-and
in what form--American
Catholicism might get a
national pastoral council.
Each of the 162 dioceses in
the country--those already
operating some sort of
diocesan-level pastoral body
and those with none-has
been asked to send someone
to the March 15-17
conference in Dayton, Ohio,
at the Bergamo Center for
Renewal. Some 200 persons
are expected.
“There are as many
different things called
‘Diocesan Pastoral Council’ as
there are dioceses that have
created such bodies, but a
pattern is beginning to
develop,” said Thomas J.
Tewey, a field representative
for the National Council of
Catholic Men (NCCM), which
is sponsoring the conference.
“One of the things the
conference hopes to
accomplish is to pick up the
pattern that is emerging.”
Practical and theological
matters affecting the creation
of a national pastoral
council-in which one day all
48 million Catholics across
the nation would have a voice
through representative laity,
clergy and Religious-will also
be looked into.
Between 40 and 50
dioceses and archdioceses
have pastoral councils at
present, according to Tewey.
The number has been
difficult to pin down because
“some are not true and
proper councils as yet,” he
added. “Some dioceses have a
steering committee which
functions as a council and
which is to bring a true
council into being.”
Lay people, pastors,
chancellors and bishops
involved in existing or
planned diocesan councils
will attend the conference.
The general theme is “Making
Coresponsibility a Reality.”
The history, structure and
programs of three diocesan
councils will be examined in
detail. One of them is the
Youngstown, Ohio, diocesan
council, formed four years
ago and one of the earliest of
the representational
structures which the
1962-1965 Vatican Council
encouraged in the Church.
The NCCM has conducted
a nationwide factual survey
on pastoral councils. Tewey
said 110 replies were
received, mostly from
diocesan chancellors, and
they showed “strong
indications of enthusiasm for
a national pastoral council.”
The results of that survey,
plus the outcome of an
attitudinal survey run by
Father William Rademacher
of St. John’s College,
Collegeville, Minn., are to be
disclosed at the conference.
Archbishop Paul Liebold
of Cincinnati, who was
instrumental in stirring up lay
interest in the Evansville,
Ind., diocesan council when
he was bishop there before he
was transferred in 1969 to
Cincinnati, will address the
conference.
Throughout the world,
national pastoral councils are
still largely in the blueprint
stage. Canada is moving
toward creation of one.
He stressed that permission
to ‘anticipate’ the Sunday or
Holy Day of Obligation Mass,
in no way diminishes the
importance either of Sunday
or the Holy Days.
“It is certainly important,”
he said, “to preserve the
concept of ‘The Lord’s Day,’
and that people realize that
Church usage recognizes the
beginning of that day on
Saturday evening when the
Church’s Liturgy, as
contained in the Breviary
recited by Priests,' celebrates
Matins, or the morning
prayers of Sunday.”
He noted that it is
presently Church custom to
begin the observance of the
Feast of the Resurrection
(Easter Sunday) on the
preceding day, Holy
Saturday, when the First Mass
of Easter Sunday, together
with the blessing of the ‘New
Fire,’ Baptismal Water and
the Paschal Candle is
celebrated.
The main purpose of the
new permission, he said, “is
to help people who find the
obligation of attending Mass
on Sunday or Holy Days very
difficult to fulfill. Some
people must go to work very
early on those days, for
instance, while others find it
necessary to travel, beginning
early in the morning on Holy
Days or Sundays.”
Father Boland listed
certain restrictions and one
additional ‘Privilege’
connected with permission to
fulfill Sunday and Holy Day
obligations on the preceding
“The Mass must be
celebrated between 4 p.m.
and 8 p.m. and must be the
Mass assigned in the Church’s
‘official calendai or “ordo” to
the Sunday or Holy Day. The
‘homily’ or sermon must be
given and the ‘prayers of the
Faithful’ must be recited,” he
said, but pointed out that
those who avail themselves of
the new permission may
receive Holy Communion at
the Sunday or Holy Day Mass
celebrated the preceding
evening, even if they have
already received Holy
Communion that morning.
Father Boland also
announced that another
document from the Holy See
grants Bishop Frey the
faculty of giving permission
to priests to ‘trinate,’ or say
three Masses on Saturday or
on the days preceding Holy
Days of Obligation when one
of the three Masses is the
“Mass of Obligation” of the
next day. In parishes where
such a need would exist, that
is, where priests already
celebrate two Masses on
Saturdays or on the vigils of
Holy Days of Obligation,
permission to celebrate a
third Mass must be requested
in writing, he said.
Four out of five Savannah
pastors, contacted by THE
SOUTHERN CROSS for their
reactions to the new
permission, expressed
approval.
One, while approving the
permission, in general,
warned that care must be
taken that it not be abused
by people who might take
advantage of it “for light
reasons.”
Three others thought it
would prove useful for people
who are sincerely desirous of
observing Sunday and Holy
Days by attending Mass, but
who are unable to do so
because of work or the
necessity of travel. One
thought it would be
permissible for people to
fulfill the Sunday or Holy
Day obligation if they desired
to make full use of Sunday
for vacation travel. He also
noted that rural priests will
find the new permission
welcome because it will
enable them to spend more
time in their parishes on
Sunday, rather than spend
most of it traveling to their
Mission Stations for Mass,
which they would be able to
celebrate on Saturday or the
eve of a Holy Day.
Another felt that it would
ease the burden of pastors
who must schedule many
Masses on Sundays and who
must seek the aid of priests
from outside the parish to
celebrate all of them.
“Sometimes it is almost
impossible to find help,
especially in the Summer
time,” he said.
One pastor, however,
objected that the new
permission seemed to extend
the Sunday and Holy Day
Obligation from 24 hours to
32. “As it stands, now, if
someone is really unable to
attend Mass on those days,
the obligation ceases. But,
under this permission, he will
have the obligation of
attending the night before.”
RENEW YOUR
SUBSCRIPTION
NEXT SUNDAY
In what a diocesan
spokesman termed the ‘first
of its kind’ in the Savannah
diocese, an area-wide
Confirmation ceremony was
conducted last Sunday, Feb.
15) at 8:00 p.m. at St.
Ben edict’s Church,
Columbus. Adult Candidates
from the city’s four parishes
received the Sacrament of
Confirmation together, from
Bishop Gerard L. Frey.
Approximately forty-five
men and women were
confirmed.
Earlier in the day, two
other Confirmation services
were held. School-age
youngsters were confirmed at
Our Lady of Lourdes,
Columbus, at 9:00 a.m. and
children and adults of Fort
Benning received the
Sacrament of Confirmation at
3:00 p.m. in the Post Chapel.
On Monday (Feb. 16)
children of St. Anne’s parish,
Columbus were confirmed at
7:30 p.m.
Bishop Frey then traveled
to Albany on Tuesday, where
he conferred the sacrament
on adults of the Albany area,
including men and women
from the Marine Corps
Supply Center and the Naval
Air Station at 8:00 p.m. in
St. Teresa’s church.
On Wednesday evening
candidates of Our Divine
Savior, Tifton, were
confirmed at 8:00 p.m.,
following a parish supper at
6:00 p.m.
Children and adults from
St. Mary’s parish, Americus
and St. Teresa’s, Cordele
received the Sacrament of
Confirmation at 8:00 p.m.
Confirmation
Schedule
Bishop Gerard L. Frey will confer the Sacrament
of Confirmation at the following churches during the
coming week:
Sunday, February 22 at Sacred Heart Church,
Waynesboro - 11 a.m.
Sunday, February 22 at St. Joan of Arc Church,
Louisville - 8:30 a.m.
Monday, February 23 at Immaculate Conception
Church, Augusta - 8 p.m.
Tuesday, February 24 at Sacred Heart Church,
Augusta - 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 25 at St. Mary’s-on-the-Hill,
Augusta - 8 p.m.
HEADLINE
HOPSCOTCH
Concert In Macon
WASHINGTON, D. C. — Georgetown University’s Glee Club
has scheduled a concert in Macon, Georgia, Saturday, February
21 at 4 p.m. at Wesleyan College. The well known 40-voice Glee
Club, a mixed group of men and women, has made appearances
at the White House during John F. Kennedy’s presidency and in
Puerto Rico where it sang for renowned cellist Pablo Cassals. Its
director, Paul Hume, is also the music critic of the Washington
Post.
Laity Polled On Bishop
ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands (NC) - The approximately
300,000 Catholics of the Rotterdam diocese have been given an
opportunity to participate in the selection of their next bishop.
Catholics who have reached the age of 16 have been asked for
their views on the type of bishop they want to succeed Bishop
Martin Jansen, who has resigned. Questionnaries were
distributed at all Sunday masses (Feb. 8). The results of the poll
will be studied by the diocesan Pastoral Council. On March 9
the council will decide on the type of bishop Catholics want, as
shown in the poll, and name 9 candidates.
Philadelphia Bishops
WASHINGTON (NC) — Pope Paul VI has appointed two
auxiliary bishops to John Cardinal Krol, archbishop of
Philadelphia, Archbishop Luigi Raimondi, Apostolic Delegate in
the United States, announced here. They are: Msgr. Martin
Lohmuller, vicar for Religious of the diocese of Harrisburg, who
is named titular bishop of Ramsbury (Ramsbiria). Msgr. Thomas
d. Welsh, rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook,
Pa., who is named titular bishop of Scattery Island.
Election March 2
BELMONT, N. C. (NC) - An election will be held March 2 to
choose a successor to the Rt. Rev. Walter A. Coggin, O.S.B.,
recently resigned as Abbot-Ordinary of Belmont Abbey here,
Father Bernard Rosswog, O.S.B., administrator, announced.
Message To Brazil
VATICAN CITY (NC) - At the outset of a Lent-long
“Campaign of Brotherhood,” launched in Brazil, Pope Paul VI
called upon Brazilians “to have courage to shun passivity in the
face of evils oppressing our brothers.” (Feb. 14). He spoke in
Portuguese in a radio message to Brazil about a month after
receiving a dossier from prominent Europeans documenting
nnlirp tortures and summary executions in that country.
INSIDE STORY
Celibacy Debate Pg. 2
Contraceptive Danger Pg* 3
'Know Your Faith 1 ....Pg* 5
NFPC On Banning Pg* 6